50 HORMUZD RASSAM^ ESQ., ON BIBLICAL LANDS, THEIR 



Chaldeans, and perceived them fleeing from the nearest 

 houses." 



It will be gathered from the above quotations that the 

 Chaldeans, Armenians, and Coords inhabited in the time of 

 Xenophon the same country which they occupy now, and 

 why the name Chaldean is changed into a foreign nomencla- 

 ture Syrian, is more than I can understand. It is quite 

 anomalous to apply such a term to the Nestorians, seeing 

 that the highlands of Assyria and Media are on the border 

 of Persia and far away from the country called " Syria," 

 which lies on the western side of the Euphrates and near 

 the Mediterranean Sea. 



The Armenians speak Armenian, the Coords Median or 

 corrupt Persian, and the Chaldeans, Chaldean or Chaldaic ; 

 why then are the two former nationalities universally 

 acknowledged to be descendants of the ancient Armenians 

 and Carduchi or Coords, and not the Chaldeans, who are 

 termed in a doctrinal sense "Nestoiians"? 



There is another fact connected with the nationality of the 

 Chaldeans which goes far to show they are as much entitled 

 to Assyrian descent as any other community which boasts 

 of ancient origin, and that is the annual commemoration 

 of the repentance of the Ninevites at the preaching of Jonah 

 by fasting three days, commencing on the twentieth day 

 before Lent, which always begins on a Monday and lasts till 

 Wednesday inclusive. Formerly a large number of devotees 

 tasted nothing during the three days, as it is traditionally 

 believed that the Ninevites did so when God Almighty 

 forgave them their iniquities. I remember when I was 

 quite a youth I tried to fast the three whole days without 

 partaking of any food or water, but as my sainted mother 

 feared that my health would suffer, she persuaded me to 

 break my fast at the end of the second day. The Chaldeans 

 have an elaborate ritual for devout purposes used in the 

 three days' fast, which is as ancient as any other church 

 services of theirs ; it is ascribed to St. Ephraim Syrus, who 

 flourished in the fourth century. How is it then that of all 

 other Christian nationalities all over the world, the Chaldeans 

 alone retain the usage of this tradition, and yet forsooth they 

 are told that they must look to Syria for their origin ? 



The so-called " Syrians," whether Jacobites or Catholics, 

 are not natives of what is known in Europe as " Syria," nor 

 are there many of them to be found in that country, the 

 majority of the Christians in Syria being either Maronites, 



